St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-09-15
THE FOLLY OF YOUNG MEN.
Springfield Republican.

Springfield Republican.
"a Boston paper told the other day
a man who, meeting an old friend,
d inquiring causually after the MEM
RS of his family, mentioned his son.
Ny son." replied the other, with
Ankness which seemed to indicate his
nse of the uselessness of DISCUS
3 the sad fact, ''has gone to the dew
p The bare and naked confession
ms more expressive of the heartache
q the parent, facing the decline of life
the certainty that the bearer of his
bame was leading a worthless career,
han any terms of grief could be. 1t
Fas unadorned misery itself.
Yet what common situation is this
Dming to be! The young men are
rs ehOOled, educated, and many of them
ollege- educated. More money, en-
leavOr and affection are lavished on
bne, upon an average, than were spent
pom three boys in the last generation.
They have gymnasiums provided to
cultivate their physical constitutions,
md from two weeks to two months in
he year to canoeing, boating, camp
ing, yachting, rocking, rusticating,
'rOughing" it in too many senses.
Net all these things are too often
Abused by being so employed as to
make the lusts of the body sustain
fa,. 1,,l Az fno cd
8fter two weeks in the mountains, from
Which he returned rather pale: "YOu
Zee the fresh air in the mountains and
good appetite built me up so that l
was able to smoke double the number
\ f cigarets day" ~k@
This is the kind of man who is
zthrown out of West Point by his hol-
-. fDw chest and spindling build. The
e lass is represented by the young fell
4 low who has been educated at Column
bia, and was found dead in his bed by
bis parents returning from Europe.
The cigaret had stopped the heart, and
.All the promise of manhood on it's
.pther Columbia man, Willard Snow
lien, son of Rev. Bayard Snowden of
Fort Hamilton, has died from internal
|iujuries received last year in a cane
rush.
Fl But this was a mere loss. In how
3nany other cases is there not mere loss,
but wrong,-often degradation and
guilt, and perhaps crime, as in the case
of young McNeely. We believe the
professional baseball fever is misera-
BILE debasement of youth. The city OF
Boston has gone crazy over the play
kng of a lot of hired mercenaries, 30 or
40 years of age, nine of whom have
lately been fined $25 each by their EN-
3ployers for an incapacitating use oil
spirits. Very respectable people have
crowded the spectators seats. 1t is OF
no particular value to the boys. In
fact, the boys cannot get near the play
ground, and the games are largely at
tended by the worst elements in the
city, as well as by some of the best
The whole thing teaches the youth
that a great and indolent profession
Shas been built upon what should be q
manly sport.
We are not claiming that the young
men are worse than in former genera
tiOns, for the data for comparison are
of SO little value that all such contrasts
are utterly worthless. But we do claim
that never was so much done for youth
and that the resulting products are
still in too many cases great disap-
pOintments to those on whom has fall
en- the burden of raising the coming
geReratiOn. Time will pass on ant
some of those who now pile up the
misery of paternal hearts may ye
know show sharper than a serpent'i
tooth it is to have thankless child.n